Online orders for groceries and essentials surge 30-35 pc during the lockdown

India has changed its purchasing habits during lockdown. According to a study conducted by Simpl – a payments platform that allows users to buy now and checkout in one click with pay later functionality – the extended nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus is highlighting the new shopping behavior of the Indians, especially from the metro cities.
The study has noted that prior to the lockdown, 30-40 percent of the online users ordered groceries and home essentials. But since the lockdown has been in place, the number and percentage of users ordering groceries and other essential through the online channel has seen a substantial jump – there has been an upsurge in daily essentials’ transactions by 30-35 percent through online orders. Even the bill size per user has increased by 30-35 percent across the board. The increase is being witnessed despite supply and workforce issues faced by the merchant partners.
According to the Simpl study, “Prior to the lockdown, 30-40 percent of the online users ordered groceries and home essentials between 10 AM-1 PM whereas 60-70 percent users made transactions between 6 PM-9 PM. Post lockdown, those transactions are happening on an hourly basis. Online grocery and essential shopping are becoming the new normal during work-from-home routines. There is about a 30-40 percent increase in the number of new offline to online users trying out services from online hyperlocal merchants, as compared to pre-lockdown months. Also, the average ticket size of medicine orders has also doubled with a 40-45 percent increase in the number of online transactions post the first phase of lockdown. The intensification of the online orders was majorly witnessed from the metro cities as compared to tier 1 and tier 2 cities.”
Commenting on the increasing numbers, Nityanand Sharma, Co-Founder, and CEO of Simpl said, “Groceries or essential shopping through online platforms used to happen mostly over the weekends or start of the month before the advent of COVID-19. But post lockdown, transactions are happening throughout the day over the week. When the lockdown was announced, people started stocking up their kitchens but were not able to order online which increased the offline stock. The rise in online transactions recently made through Simpl indicates an average 1.5x increase in ticket size and a 40 percent spike in the overall GMV of offline merchant partners. This is an interesting trend in our bid to promote a safe mode of payment.”